Conventional approaches to packaging electronic devices and systems have significant limitations when it comes to operating while in harsh environments. Exposed electrical interconnections make electronic devices and systems susceptible to various environmental stresses: electrostatic discharge (ESD), corrosive substances, immersion in a liquid, or simply shorting, bending, or crushing electrical contacts can degrade, damage, or even destroy an electronic system or device.
High voltage transients from ESD and other sources are known for their ability to damage electronic components, especially at risk are components used in transmitting and receiving data communication signals. Systems that use exposed interconnects for data communications are therefore at risk from ESD or other high voltage electrical discharges; this is why data communication signals that have exposed electrical interconnects are often protected from high voltage discharges by solid state transient suppression devices: Zener diodes and other high voltage transient suppression devices have been available in the marketplace for decades, they provide protection from voltage transients by limiting voltage; these components start conducting when the voltage on an its input exceeds a certain specified voltage, and act to limit voltage at that point by conducting current through themselves, away from sensitive components input/output structures; these devices help protect even sensitive electronic components input/output structures. These transient suppression devices are limited, they have voltage, current, and power ratings, if any of these ratings is exceeded they themselves can breakdown, or these transient suppression devices may fail to operate fast enough; when this happens electronics connected to them can also be damaged.
Since sensitive input/outputs electronics can still be damaged by high voltage transients even when protected by transient protection devices, new methods for extending the range of electronic devices and systems begins by eliminating data communication signals that are directly electrically connected from being exposed to the environment, and also may include non-contact power transfer between modules.
Furthermore direct electric interconnections are universally metallic; they can be degraded or damaged by various mechanisms that include corrosion, and shorting. Salt water and caustic substances can easily corrode metallic interconnections over time or even short metallic interconnects immediately rendering them non-functional; since directly connected metallic interconnects are susceptible to such environmental contamination by simply eliminating them problems like shorting and corrosion of the metallic interconnects are eliminated.
Even “Rugged” or “Ruggedized” electronic devices and systems that are designed to be operated in various harsh environments cannot typically be expanded while in a harsh environment without exposing conductive surfaces including electronic components or electrical contacts to the harsh environment, as they also frequently use directly connected electrical interconnections.
Typical rugged electronic devices and systems can be put into one of three classes:                1. They have to be opened to add new electronic hardware.        2. They have exposed electrical interconnects protected from ESD by solid state transient suppression devices.        3. They are not designed to be expanded.        
Another aspect to background of this invention relates to the fact that data communication components (especially high speed data communication components) with directly connected electrical signals are much more susceptible to damage than are components in electrical power systems that have directly connected electrical connections: since components that transfer data communication signals are designed to be very sensitive to small fast changes they are built using small delicate structures and electronics used in power distribution are built using larger more robust structures that respond more slowly. This is especially true when considering ESD as an environmental hazard: data communication input/output structures (especially high speed data communication structures) are very susceptible to damage from ESD where power connections are relatively immune to common ESD events.
The invention described within this specification is an article of manufacture, an extensible electronic system or device, where a plurality of modules align and connect in pre-determined sequences and where electronic modules do not have to be opened up to add new functionality to the electronic system or device.
Various embodiments of this invention are described within this specification, where each embodiment has certain specific characteristic that include: one or more alignment mechanism, one or more attachment mechanism, one or more Non-contact, without electrical contact data communication mechanisms (electronic components; transmitters, receivers, or transceivers), and optionally one or more non-contact power transfer mechanisms. Also since data communication components with exposed directly electrical connections are much more susceptible to damage than are directly connected exposed power components; directly electrically power connections may also be used in this invention.
This is a divisional, continuation in part of related prior art from the same inventor that was restricted by a USPTO restriction requirement; this specification contains species that were not elected in the same inventors prior art proceedings and also contains new matter that is also related to the same prior art.